The White House Filegate nightmare just got a lot bigger. What started out as a few background files obtained illegally on prominent Republicans has grown like the Clintons' lack of credibility over the past few days. Clinton attempted to disarm the volatile issue when it first hit the press by saying the acquisition of the FBI background checks was a bureaucratic snafu.

It then turned out that there had been over 480 files gathered on everyone from James Baker to Marvin Fitzwater. Clinton still argued that was an honest mistake. Now it turns out that in addition to the FBI files there were also some IRS files obtained. That's right. These people's taxes were scrutinized illegally by the Clinton administration. Oops again, another one of those mistakes that happens when you have an out of control bureaucratic nightmare.

Yeah, I know just how easily those kind of mistakes can be made. I was in McDonald's the other day and accidentally ordered 500 hamburgers. Sorry, Bill, that kind of thing just doesn't happen, especially when it comes to extremely sensitive documents like background checks and tax returns. That kind of information is supposed to be protected, even from people at the White House who can't produce a credible reason for having them.

Members of the Republican Party screamed like banshees when the story first broke calling it an atrocity. The Democrats backed up their boy by insisting it was just an honest bureaucratic mistake and claimed that Republicans just want to make it an election year issue.

Is that so wrong? Shouldn't Clinton's crediblity be considered; shouldn't Dole's? That's how we ended up with the president and her husband in the first place. We saw that he could play the saxophone and decided that if he can do that he can surely run the most powerful nation in the world.

Do we really want a president who can accidentally gather 480 FBI files in charge of one of the largest nuclear arsenals on the globe? What might he "accidentally" do next? Might Oklahoma accidentally get blown off the map and replaced by a giant radioactive cloud (not that I would complain if that were to happen). Who knows?

The fact is that you have to take responsibility for your actions and the actions of those below you, no matter how ridiculous they are. Clinton is just trying to pass the buck. Gee, what a surprise.- Lykins is a mass communication junior.